Ukrainian fugitive in San Marcos?

Is there a high-profile Ukrainian fugitive with ties to a family in San Marcos living in San Diego County? Some in the Ukrainian government think so.

But just exactly where Petro Melnyk is remains a mystery.

Melnyk was the rector — or president — of a prestigious university when he was accused of bribery in July. He fled house arrest in August and remains missing.

Ukrainian news media have reported that a deputy with the Ukraine Prosecutor General’s Office — the equivalent to the U.S. Attorney General’s Office — has said that Melnyk fled to the U.S., possibly to San Marcos.

Melnyk was the head of the National University of State Tax Service of Ukraine when he was accused of demanding bribes from the families of two would-be students. In one case, he was accused of asking for about $4,900, in the second it was about $9,800.

News reports said the Ukrainians want U.S. officials to send Melnyk back home on terms of reciprocity, as the countries have no extradition treaty.

They also asked U.S. officials to question Melnyk’s ex-wife and daughter in San Diego County.

Two weeks ago, Melnyk’s ex-wife answered the door at her Lake San Marcos home. She said Melnyk was not there and declined to comment further.

Asked about reports that Melnyk was in the U.S., a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman in San Diego said that Homeland Security investigators were reviewing the matter, and no further details were available.

The U.S. Department of Justice declined comment on the case late last month, and did not respond to a request for comment when asked last week if it would honor any Ukrainian request to question Melnyk’s family in the U.S.

Ukrainian authorities have not responded to emails seeking comment.

Melnyk has not updated his public postings on his Facebook page since December, when he wrote that he would focus his work on the university after having served two years in the country’s parliament.

Competition to enter the state-run school where Melnyk was rector is intense. Only graduates can work for the tax office, a desirable public service job with good benefits, said Tatyana Maliarenko, a scholar with the Washington, D.C.-based Wilson Center.

She is also a professor at Donetsk State Management University in the Ukraine.

Maliarenko said the Ukrainian public generally believes corruption is rampant in higher education there, and said a few rectors have been arrested on suspicion of corruption.

The Ukraine’s government-controlled media has widely covered Melnyk’s case, from his arrest to his improbable escape, she said.

Ukrainian media reported that Melnyk was detained on July 27, eventually placed on house arrest and ordered to wear a tracking bracelet. He was the first senior official ordered to wear such a tracker, according to media reports.

Melnyk reportedly removed the bracelet and went missing on Aug. 9. Five days later, Ukrainian authorities put him on an international wanted list.